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I recently found out my furbaby has diabetes. Getting used to those insulin injections is going to be a work in progress. The vet has not changed her diet yet, wants to see how the insulin is effecting her first. Thing is she has to get a dental. She's had horrible tartar problems since I got her. Her first owners were abusive and by the time she came to me they had not taken her to the vet and she had a bad infection that opened a cut on her face. I give her as many dental cleanings as possible but even with them and brushing and dental bones she has had at least 16 teeth pulled and doesn't have many left. The vet has told me eventually she will lose all her teeth. She is due a dental but they have to wait until shes stable on her insulin. She is on soft dry dog food right now but when they change her diet the only diabetic dog food I have found is hard dry food that she won't be able to chew. Should I ask the vet where I can get her food she'll be able to eat or does anyone have suggestions?

I'm sorry your baby has so many issues, but how wonderful that you saved her from an abusive situation.

Might I suggest you just soak the hard food in warm water for a little while before giving it to her? One of my dogs has a hard time with hard food but when I began softening it in water he eats it right up.

[This message edited by debbysbaby at 7:25 AM, June 6th (Thursday)]

I don't know if dogs work the same way but my cat developed an allergy to his own teeth and we had to remove all of them. He has never liked soft food and within 2 days was eatting his dry food. He seems unaware that he doesn't have teeth. Maybe you could moisten the dry food with something he likes that won't interfere with the diabetes.

I had to do the insulin injections for one of our cats. You do get used to it, and when they make the association between the shots and how they feel, they will actually come and remind you if you forget (at least my girl did).

As for the teeth cleaning, instead of the hard crunchy treats, my vet gave us an alternative that seemed to work better. It was closer to a marshmallow in consistency and had some sort of dental abrasive inside, the theory being that instead of splitting when they bit and cleaning the point of contact, the teeth would sink in and the abrasive would scrape tartar off the sides of the teeth as well, right up to the gums. I don't recall what the name was unfortunately.

The soaking in water sounds good. Aesir I'd love the name of whatever it was so I can ask my vet about it, it sounds awesome. She goes a little feral on me when I give her dental bones and hides and guards them.

Here's a list of 5-star wet dog foods.

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/wet/5-star/

The very best thing to clean a dog's teeth are natural raw bones with some meat and tendons on them. Cooked bones are very bad, so are raw hides. They can splinter in the stomach lining. ALL raw bones are ok, even chicken bones. I give my pup a raw chicken quarter, raw meaty soup bones, raw neck bones, etc. Just always stay present when you feed any dog any bone as a precaution.

Kibble fed dog

Raw fed dog (never had a dental cleaning either)

My dog (also never had a dental cleaning)...kibble fed but gets raw meaty/tendon bones

Also, check into oil supplements. They do miracles to repair a dog's health from the inside out. My pup had SIGNIFICANT health issues and has a weakened immune system. I've only had him two months as of yesterday, and he's all healed up. I switched him to a grain free kibble, gave him raw meaty bones, 2 raw eggs per week, and he gets 2 pumps of salmon oil in the morning feed and 4 tsp of coconut oil in his feed in the afternoon. (1tsp per 10lbs). Doesn't look like the same dog I got 2mos ago. Supplements are AMAZING for them.

[This message edited by windowsnotwalls at 11:30 AM, June 6th (Thursday)]

OMG Windows- our dogs are twinsies!!

OMG Windows- our dogs are twinsies!!

Oh wow! They are!!!

Well, we have very cute furbabies!!

Sorry for the t/j Unagie!!

Lol its fine. Thank you for all the advice. And just because you all posted this is her. SO is holding her during a panic attack...sigh.

Dear Unagie,

I've got an elderly Border Collie/Collie mix with diabetes. She's doing well with two shots a day. You will also need to test her urine weekly; it's not that hard.

Abby gets a doggie cookie (I make them) when she gets her shots and yes....she's reached the point where she will tell me it's shot time and I've notice she seems to feel better about an hour after the shot.

The shots aren't hard and my vet will take the used syringes and dispose of them for me.

Abby's condition isn't a hardship on us. It's just something we deal with and since it means I have her longer I will do whatever I have to do.

k9

Had a Lhasapoo that lived forever, seriously she was 21 when she passed. She had no teeth left in the last 2 years. we would take her dry food, and add in lean ground meat, deer, or beef, and water, soak it, and then run it through the blender. Yum Yum she loved it, and ate it up.

Lean meats won't hurt your diabetic doggy either, my MIL works for a vet, and he tells his owners of diabetic animals to get rid of the dog food and replace with lean meats and veggies it ends up looking like a yummy stew. green beans, carrots, peas, broccoli stalks etc.

Your Pup is lucky she was given a forever home, and I hope you are successful in helping her have quality with the time left.

I had a cat with diabetes for about 9 months (felines are the only mammal - according to my vet - that can be diagnosed as diabetic and suddenly begin producing insulin again BUT when it happens, it is within the first year from when they stop producing it). I gave him his shot in his scruff while he was eating. Never even noticed it. He was so engrossed in his food that he didn't care/notice the shot.

He suddenly started producing insulin again and lived to the ripe old age of 18ish.

[This message edited by Mousse242 at 8:49 AM, June 7th (Friday)]